The sharply curving flyover exit ramp from westbound U.S. 64/264 to Raleigh's Interstate 440 Inner Beltline was not designed for an intoxicated young man driving at 100mph.
Is this curve safe for the rest of us?
The 18-year-old driver's autopsy report ("Teen drank before wreck") makes it clear that two deadly forces combined to cause a terrible crash that killed four Wakefield High School students on March 4: fast driving and heavy drinking.
Josh Munden was one of several readers who wrote after the wreck to say this curve didn't feel safe at freeway speeds:

I, my family, and many of my friends have observed that the exit in question ... is very difficult to safely traverse at the posted speed limit. The exit curve is either too sharp, or the roadbed is not adequately banked, or the posted speed limit is too high, or all of the above. I'm not an engineer or expert on road safety. I'm just using common sense from 38 years of driving experience. ...
Go take that exit at the posted speed limit and you will see what concerns me and others. Inclement weather will further exacerbate what I believe is a hazard for motorists.

The speed limit for drivers approaching the curve -- posted at 65mph when the bypass opened last year -- was lowered in mid-March to 55mph. NCDOT also put an advisory sign on the curve itself, suggesting that drivers slow down to 50mph. DOT engineers said they were responding to concerns of drivers like Munden.
Truckdriver Philip Evans endorsed the change, but he still was troubled:

I drive a tractor trailer on this ramp everyday, it only took me one time to figure out you can't run 60 mph or above on it with a loaded truck. My personal truck reacts the same way, so 50 mph is fast enough for this ramp. ...
More signs, maybe a caution light would be very helpful. A good question would be how they came up with the degree of banking on the bridge to begin with.

What do you think?

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